SportsCrack Blog

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

If you ever questioned who the toughest athletes in sports are it's without a doubt hockey players. Guys like Jeremy Roenick would rather wrestle alligators on a golf course then work on their short game. I've always been a big fan of Roenick since he could basically carry my NHL '93 team to the Stanley Cup against anybody. He was more automatic than Gretzky and Lemieux in that game and the only sports star who was more money was Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl.

Friday, October 23, 2015

According to Andrew Ivins of BlueandGold.com Notre Dame has landed one of the elite defensive ends in the nation in Khalid Kareem...

Notre Dame has landed a top-ranked rushing defensive end.

Farmington Hills (Mich.) Harrison four-star defensive end Khalid Kareem committed to Notre Dame on Friday, just a week after he took an official visit to South Bend.

Kareem, who is ranked as the No. 19 strongside defensive end in the country, was previously committed to Alabama but he decided to back off that pledge on Oct. 14, citing a desire to explore other options.

It didn't take him long to find the school that he wants to call home.

Kareem was on campus for the USC game last weekend, and left with the Irish at the top of his list.

"I just really needed to see some of the dorms and if I did decide to go there, where I would be staying," he added. "I wanted to sit down with the academic support just to see where I fit into the scheme of things."

Kareem's parents approved, as well.

"It's pretty much family oriented and it's not just focused around football. It's about the academics as well, which is the main part for me. They treat you like a student," his mother Phillicia Kareem said.

Kareem is slated to enroll early at Notre Dame where he'll learn from Irish defensive line coach Keith Gilmore, who had spent the past two years recruiting the defensive end.

"My relationship with Coach Gilmore is good," Kareem said back April. "He recruited me when he was at North Carolina and he carried that relationship over when he got to Notre Dame. So it's a real good relationship with him."

"It's a huge point," Kareem he added. "Having a good relationship with your coach is going to make a huge difference where you go."

Kareem becomes commit No. 17 in the class of 2016 for Notre Dame and the fifth prospect to pledge to the Irish that was at one time committed to another school joining quarterback Ian Book (Washington State), safety D.J. Morgan (Arizona State), defensive end Ade Ogundeji (Western Michigan) and safety Spencer Perry (Florida). The 6-4, 257-pound Kareem has 15 sacks this season for Harrison team that is 7-1 season. He's ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the state of Michigan. He also held offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Louisville, Tennessee, Ohio State, Yale and Oregon. -

As you know the defensive line, especially pass rushing ends, have been hard to find for Notre Dame with the exception of the 2011 class (Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt, Ishaq Williams, etc.). Getting a one time Bama commit in Kareem should keep the recruiting momentum going for the Fighting Irish. Look for one time USC commit LB Daelin Hayes to be next on board after he officially visited Notre Dame for the USC game last week.

Also highly regarded DE Wole Betiku officially decommitted from UCLA today and has scheduled a visit to ND on November 13th. Assistant head coach Mike Denbrock visited Betiku yesterday at his high school and shortly after convinced the 4-star Nigerian transplant to open up his recruitment. Don't be surprised to see Betiku commit soon since ND spots are closing up fast.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Well it's time to take a deep breath. College football has reached it's midseason point. Which means your team only has 6-7 games left. Before you get all huffy puffy and start crying like a Michigan fan you need to sit down. Relax a little. Put your feet up on one of those empty Bud Light boxes you use for blackout reminders. And just soak this midseason All-America Team in for what it's all worth.

Been there. Done that. Thankfully it wasn't on live tv though like Mike Ditka last night on Monday Night Countdown. Since it wasn't silent Cris Carter should be fine. The loud farts are always the funniest but the least smelliest. I love Ditka's face when he just blows it out. It's the face of a guy at his age who just doesn't give a shit anymore.

This will never ever get old. On my deathbed I will still have a little smile on my face knowing Michigan got their hearts ripped out over a muffed punt. By the way it's been over 750 days since Michigan scored a point vs Notre Dame. Think about that while you cry into your maize and blue kleenex.

Sign me up. You got the real Hans Solo plus Chewie and not some fucking Jar Jar Binks bull shit and that pretty much sealed it for me. I'm all in. I'm just going to pretend the last three atrocities didn't even exist. J. J. Abrams can take all my money. Star Wars for Life.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Poor Michigan. You finally got the coach everybody wanted in Jim Harbaugh. You finally were going to beat your big brother Sparty and vault back into the top 8 in the rankings. The college football world was again going to be your oyster. And then it all went to shit thanks to an incompetent punter and improbable return.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Notre Dame's season and future rides heavily on this game. With more than 40 recruits in town and USC floundering with an interim head coach it's time for ND to stomp the shit out of the Trojans. ND owes them big time for last season when a defeated and dejected Everett Golson did his best nose dive and sent the Trojans to a brutal blowout.

The season rides on this game. If ND wins they will go on to win out and make the playoffs. If they lose though I got a feeling this team will tank and they will be looking at another 8-4 season.

A decade ago before he shattered his leg and is now flipping burgers at McDonalds Alabama WR Tyrone Prothro made a similar catch. Just a wild guess but I think Stanford WR Francis Owusu will go on to do bigger and better things after this catch then Mr. Prothro.

Hands down this is the college football play of the year. Double reverse, QB throw while the receiver is getting mugged catch behind the back. Don't look now but Stanford is now a legitimate playoff contender coming off a humiliating open season loss to Northwestern. They ran all over UCLA and essentially eliminated Mora and his baby blue crew from any significant bowl game this season.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

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The Atlanta Braves announced today that their new mixed use development surrounding the new Suntrust Park will be called "The Battery."
It looks awesome with everything you could possible need surrounding the ballpark. The only thing missing was parking. They might want to think about how people are going to park their cars considering there is no public transportation to the area except for poor people buses. And we all know the people who go to Braves games don't ride the bus. Oh yeah and you might want to start signing some free agents THIS OFFSEASON because the 2017 class is barren with impact bats and arms.
Other than that it looks great. Kudos to the Braves for giving the fans something they can be proud of and comfortable with.

Notre Dame has received some great recruiting news this week and it comes from a couple of highly sought after defensive players deflecting from their verbal commitments.

On Monday it started off with 5-star linebacker Daelin Hayes officially cutting ties with the sinking ship over at USC. Hayes will visit ND this weekend for the USC game and appears to be a heavy lean at this moment for the Irish.

Today 4-star defensive end Khalid Kareem decommitted from Alabama via his Twitter account and will also take an official visit to ND this weekend.

Notre Dame will be hosting at least 20 of the top prospects in the nation for their primetime game vs USC. To say this game is important not only for this season but the future ahead is a massive understatement. Notre Dame and the coaching staff not only will have to put on a show on NBC Saturday night but they also have to be able to close on Hayes and Kareem, who are both instant impact recruits at positions that ND has had trouble recruiting in the past.

Now that Cutty Sark has been fired for yet another shitfaced appearance at a team function (this time it was Sunday practice) Bovada.com has released their odds for his replacement. With USC off the Reggie Bush sanctions, a full 85 scholarships available, this should be a highly sought after job for a blue blood program full of 5 star talent.

Let's take a look at Bovada's odds for Sarkisian's replacement. Remember Cutty Sark was making $4.5 million per year. Money will not be an issue in their search.

Kyle Whittingham +350 - The current Utah Utes coach has been at his job for over a decade now since replacing Urban Meyer. He's compiled a 90-43 including a stellar 8-1 bowl record which included an undefeated 2008 season with an impressive win over Nick Saban and Alabama. He's a drama free coach. In other words he's not going to be downing bottles of Patron and hitting on the booster's daughters.Chip Kelly +600 - If I'm USC I back up the Brinks truck full of Beats by Dre money and give Chip an offer he can't refuse. Kelly would destroy the Pac 12 with the roster USC already has but he does have some Oregon NCAA regulation issues hanging over his head. Chip should be the first and only choice for AD Pat Haden.

Brian Harsin +600 - The Boise State head coach is one of the top under 40 guys in the college football landscape. He seems like a great fit in Boise and I'm not sure how he would fit in culturally with USC and all the bright lights of Hollywood. Harsin went 12-2 including a Fiesta Bowl victory in his only season at Boise State after replacing Chris Peterson.

Tom Herman +700 - The current Houston Cougars head coach is in his first season after an impressive assistant coaching resume which included a Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach for his work last season with Ohio State. Herman has a tremendous offensive mind and is the best underdog pick here.Justin Fuente +700 - The Memphis Tigers head coach is another young, up and coming coach who has led his team to an undefeated season so far. He's got more experience than Herman and Harsin but his overall record isn't as superlative only because of Memphis's lack of facilities and tradition.

Clay Helton +800 - He's currently the interim head coach as well as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at USC. He did coach USC to a bowl game victory in 2013 but I don't think he's a serious candidate for Haden who should be moving away from the Sark-Kiffin-Carroll coaching tree.

Jack Del Rio +800 - The Oakland Raiders head coach is an USC alum but he's got no college coaching experience. I would put his odds of getting the job at about 2%. Del Rio is a NFL guy for a reason.

Chris Peterson +900 - 0.0% chance he leaves Washington right now for USC. He's not a culture fit and he's already declined the job in the past.Brian Kelly +900 - 0.0% chance here too with Brian Kelly. If Kelly goes anywhere it's the NFL for a head coaching job.

Kevin Sumlin +1100 - Sumlin would be a tremendous hire but I think he's very comfortable at College Station. Gary Patterson +1100 - It seems like every year his name is brought up and for good reason, he's a helluva coach. But I don't think he's an USC fit. He seems to be a TCU lifer and he wasn't interested in the Texas job when it was open.Mark Dantonio +1500 - The only place I could see him going is back to his alma mater in South Carolina now that Head Ball Coach is retired. Dantonio makes top 3 head coaching money and in East Lansing he's basically a God.

As much as I think Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is a clown in a lot of ways (his vocabulary and dance skills) I gotta respect his rant on the media here. His nerves are rustled about being asked year in and year out about "Clemsoning" that he was bound to eventually burst out especially after back-to-back impressive wins at home vs Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. Someone in the media needs to remind Dabo that "Clemsoning" is not an adjective. It's a verb. Then we can see his purple and orange head burst.

By the way you know this outburst was 100% inspired by Nick Saban. Swinney is such a wanna-be Saban that you know he had this tirade written down and prepared for when the first media member dare asked him about Clemsoning. He finally got to use his Nick Saban media disrespect card. Bravo Dabo. Bravo.

Friday, October 09, 2015

No lie I was completely confused in the first 30 seconds of this video. I could not tell who was Key and who was the real James Franklin. But thankfully I was not as confused as an 8-year-old boy in Jerry Sandusky's basement. Too soon? Nah fuck Penn State.

The site lists offensive coordinator Mike Locksley as a leading candidate to serve as interim head coach.

The Terps are off to a 2-3 start this season, with wins over FCS Richmond and South Florida, who is still looking for its first win over an FBS opponent, with blowout losses to Bowling Green (48-27), West Virginia (45-6) at Michigan (28-0) this past weekend. “Barring an unexpected last-minute reversal,” the report reads, “Maryland will part ways with Edsall when the floundering Terps enter their mid-season bye week.”

Maryland is off next weekend before hosting Penn State on Oct. 24.

Maryland's biggest mistake was firing Ralph Friedgen after the 2010 season. The Terps were coming off a 9-4 season which if you look at their football history is a high mark. And if you are going to fire an alum in Friedgen you better replace him with a home run hire and Edsall was far from it. Firing him now is definitely the right move. The guy is a terrible head coach.

If Maryland football ever wants to compete like their basketball program they need to dish out the money for a proven head coach. Chip Kelly is a pipe dream but I would think Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank could have some major influence ($$$) for his alma mater.